


Young Noble of the Yorozuya

by Kagehana_Tsukio



Series: Young Noble of the Yorozuya [1]
Category: Gintama
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-16
Updated: 2014-02-16
Packaged: 2018-01-12 15:33:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1190391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kagehana_Tsukio/pseuds/Kagehana_Tsukio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hearing no footsteps behind him, he looked over his shoulder with a slightly questioning look.</p><p>"Well? Are you coming?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Young Noble of the Yorozuya

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Thank you Sorachi!](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/74597) by banafria. 



> AN: So this time it's a Yorozuya!Katsura story that's been inspired by the latest arc in the Gintama manga. Right now it's not much (kind of a prologue of what the story would actually be about) but be assured that this one is definitely going to have a follow up! ...maybe.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama, It belongs to Hideachi Sorachi.

The three teens –  _no young men now, they had seen too much to be simply called teens_  – were facing each other as they stood among the camp that the other Joui patriots had set up a ways from the battlefield that they fought on.

" _Gintoki_ …what did you just say?" The words rang out disbelievingly from Takasugi as he stared at one of the few people that he could actually call a  _friend_.

"I said it once and I'll say it again." For once (off the battlefield at least), Gintoki's face was completely serious as he stared at his two childhood friends.

"I'm leaving. This war is over- can't you tell?!", here Gintoki waved his arm around, roughly indicating to everything around him, "We all know that the news that we received of the Bakufu –  _no,_ the Shogun giving up Edo over to the Amanto is true, and even now we are fighting with all we can, but  _look._  Look at all of those other people, Samurai who are still fighting for the sake of a lost country, and imagine their families futilely waiting for them to come home. I can't stand this anymore. This war was over a long time ago, but we just never accepted it. I don't regret fighting, but the  _only thing_ that I've ever wanted to protect was  _you! My friends!"_

At this point Gintoki was breathing harshly (after all he had just shouted out some of his innermost feelings to his friends), as he stared at Takasugi and Katsura, and their taken aback faces.

He recomposed himself, and steeled his nerves for what he was going to say next.

"I'm done. If you want to meet up with me, or you need help, sure I don't mind. But don't expect me to watch you as you waste yourselves in this useless, bloody fight. I'm not leaving because I'm giving up; I'm not leaving because I don't want to help either."

A weighted pause hung in the air and a saddened, anguished look entered Gintoki's dark red eyes.

"I just don't want to see two of my only friends  _die_  for a cause that they don't truly believe in with their whole soul."

* * *

Nothing was said as Gintoki began to walk away from Shinsuke and Kotarou.

Kotarou had nothing to say from what he had just heard.

Truly? Gintoki truly thought that about them, and had forced him to fight all this time just for their sakes? Oh he knew that Gintoki wanted to avenge Sensei's death as well, but he was never really one to hold a grudge  _(especially with how much Gintoki idolized Sensei and his teachings, and as much as Kotarou tried to convince himself this was all for Sensei – deep inside he knew…)_.

How come he had never wondered why Gintoki  _kept on and was_ still _fighting_?

A small shift from beside him drew Kotarou out of his musings as he turned to look at Shinsuke.

His other childhood friend had an indescribable look on his face, but Kotarou could only think that Shinsuke looked  _betrayed_.

Shinsuke opened his mouth to say talk as he stepped forward and grabbed a hold of one of Gintoki's wrists.

"You're just going to  _leave?_ " Maybe it was the way he said it, but the unspoken words  _'_ leave  _us?_ ' hung between the three of them silently, almost accusingly as Kotarou watched Shinsuke looked imploringly at Gintoki's back.

He could see Gintoki freeze, and then his whole body –  _still stained the red of the blood of the enemies from the battlefield, fitting so much of his moniker_  –  ** _flinched_** _._

Utter silence filled the air, and the world seemed to have stopped for the three of them.

_._

_._

_._

_And all Kotarou could do was wonder – just how did things start to turn out this way?_

* * *

The world was frozen, or so it seemed. Then, the illusion shattered.

"…Kami, Gintoki."

The icy silence was broken by a simple statement from Shinsuke.

"I thought you were better than that."

It seemed almost as if Shinsuke had lost all of the energy he had left, like it had all been sucked out of him. All of a sudden it seemed as if shadows had formed under his eyes out of nowhere, as he brought up a hand and raked it through his dark purple-tinted hair, before finally curling his lips up into a tired, lazy  _(pained)_  smirk.

"Heh. I guess I thought wrong. Turns out, you were just like that bastard Tatsuma."

In the next instance, a look of inexplicable, pure, unbridled  _pain_  flashed through Shinsuke's only remaining eye, and once was a bright and glittering olive green stained into a murky, clouded colour of its old vibrancy, the light having fallen into its depths.

Slowly, it came back ( _but still not as bright as before-no never again will it be_ ), and to anyone else looking at Shinsuke, it would seem as if nothing had even happened.

"Tch. You really are a bastard, Gintoki."

And with that final statement, Shinsuke strode forward, a new purpose –  _different in its ideals, but strong nonetheless in its resolve_  – spurring him onwards as he brushed past Gintoki, and leaving Kotarou behind.

Nothing would be the same anymore.

.

.

.

_And in the corners of their minds, hearts and souls, three people could hear a faint sound – the sound of a single chain shattering as it broke off from the rest._

XXXXX

Kotarou ignored the bustling sounds of other samurai outside of his tent as he went through his already scare belongings  _(you could not keep much of value while fighting a harsh war, though that_ _was a lesson some learned the hard way)_ , packing what he deemed necessary to bring. After all, he thought to himself, I can't afford to bring too much for fear of weighing us down, but I need to be able to protect Gintoki and myself from anyone who wants to harm us.

He was so busy putting things into his bag, that he did not hear the flap to his tent opening, and the quiet sound of footsteps coming to a stop in the 'doorway' of the tent.

A low-tenored voice suddenly spoke out behind him.

"Zura."

Kotarou stilled. His mind however, was not quite as motionless.

How did he not hear his friend enter? Dammit, he knew he should have been paying more attention!

Kotarou did not turn around. He could hear Shinsuke walk in from where he stood at the entrance of the tent, before finally coming to a stop, standing only a few steps behind him.

"So you're going too, huh? I guess I should have expected it," A small rueful smile, tinged slightly with an edge of bitterness emerged on Shinsuke's face, although Kotarou could not see it. "You always  _were_  closer with Gintoki than me, even if only Gintoki and I could keep up with each other when we really got into it on the battlefield."

Kotarou jolted, almost at a loss from what he just heard.  _Shinsuke...What was Shinsuke **saying**_!?

He spun around, urgency so rarely, yet so often showed lining his every move.

"Shinsuke! You know that's not tru…"

Kotarou let himself trail off, as he stared at the expression that rarely graced  _(more like never)_  his childhood friend's face.

If anything, it could be called a peaceful expression – for Shinsuke that is. It wasn't a smile – barely a smirk really, but there was ease in his friends face  _(there were no more crinkles in between his brow and just how could he look so much younger with only a single change)_ indicating that for the first time in a long while Shinsuke was finally content. Maybe not with what was going on, what had just happened, and certainly not with what had become of the relationship among the three of them, but Shinsuke was at least at peace with himself.

"Oi Zura."

Kotarou snapped out of his reverie of his friend's new change as he automatically responded to that dreaded nickname.

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura. And what Shinsuke?"

Shinsuke let out a small chuckle at the usual reaction he had goaded out of Kotarou. At least one thing would never change.

"I've just got one thing to tell you before you leave. I may not like Gintoki – though he is my friend – and I'm sure that the feeling is mutual. But all three of us know that after…"  _–Sensei-_  "… _that_ …none of us will ever let something like that happen to us again. So make sure you keep him out of trouble."

Kotarou stared at his friend, and he could  _feel_ the subtle relief filling his mind. Maybe things between them still had a chance at being fixed. Not completely to the way they were before of course, things had changed too much that to happen, but perhaps they could still have a chance at staying close friends with each other, like they had always been.

Taking a deep breathe, Kotarou searched out his friends olive green eyes  _(they had always made Shinsuke unique from everyone else)_ , and met them with his own dark brown ones.

They held each other's' gaze as moments went by.

Finally Katsura broke the exchange, unnamed emotions flickering through his eyes as he kept his sight focused on his friend  _(and who always would be his friend)_.

"Of course, Shinsuke. I would have done it anyways, even if you didn't say anything."

Shinsuke let out a hum of agreement at Kotarou's reply.

"Well then," Shinsuke turned around, and started making his way out of the tent again. "It seems like what I came here for is done."

_Clack._

_Clack._

_Clack._

Each single step forward that Shinsuke took felt like he was getting miles and miles further away from him, Kotarou thought. Then he had an epiphany, and before he could stop himself his body lunged forward and grabbed hold of Shinsuke's shoulder.

"Shinsuke!...Don't get yourself killed out there. If you ever need help, just call for us- we'll help. Even if Gintoki protests I'll still drag him there – you know what he's like, he'll never admit it himself."

Kotarou wasn't sure what he was saying anymore. All he knew was that he didn't want Shinsuke to leave – not without giving voice to all the things left unsaid that hung between them. His grip on Shinsuke's shoulder was tight as his friend turned back to look at him, the faintest hint of a smile pulling at the edges of his lips.

"Yeah, I know," Shinsuke said quietly. "And… you too, Zura. Take care of yourself."

Kotarou nodded, for once not protesting to the use of that hated nickname. Shinsuke held out his hand, and Kotarou grasped it with every ounce of his strength.

Before he knew it Shinsuke had released him and stepped back, giving him a final glance before he turned away.

And one of his best friends walked out of his life without looking back.

.

.

.

_A new link was forming, more fragile than what once was, still tentative in its bonds, but steadfast in its will to repair a friendship that could have lasted forever._

XXXXX

Gintoki stood a few steps away from the camp, taking his last glimpse of what had been his home for the past few years of constant battles and war –  _the people making up the home not the_ _place –_ and saying his final goodbyes to his friends in his head.

_Shin-teme…sorry I couldn't tell you in a better way. I didn't mean for us to part on such bad terms. I knew you would take it badly like this –that's the way you are. But still I thought that….perhaps it could have been different. But still, no matter what happens, I know that if you need help, I'll help you. Just let me know – don't hesitate. After all, we made each made a promise that day. You, vengeance for Sensei. Zura, the honour of our country. Me, to protect our friends – yes, including you. But…this is something that needs to be done. I can't do this anymore – I can't stand by and watch as comrade and friend after friend falls on that bloody battlefield and as you slowly lose your own soul day-by-day. So…goodbye.'_

Gintoki turned around and began walking away from the camp, and towards the rest of the country.

Or rather, he would have if he wasn't stopped by a shout of his name.

"Gintoki!"

He paused.

"Zura?"

And indeed, it was Katsura who was running towards him with a bag slung over his shoulder and his hair tied back, slightly red in the face.

"Tsk. It's not Zura, it's Katsura."

Even Gintoki cracked a slight smile at the familiar quip to his hated nickname.

"What, did you expect me to just let you go alone and leave me behind, Gintoki?"

A boyish grin  _(and wasn't that just sad when they were barely out of their teens themselves)_ spread across Zura's face as he looked at Gintoki with a glint in his eyes  _(always so stubborn)_.

"Don't forget just who it was who did most of the saving each other Here Gintoki. You wouldn't last a week – no, three days without me."

The silence after this statement seemed to stretch longer than the scant few minutes it truly was, before Gintoki finally deigned to answer.

"…Zura. I'm the one who saved you more."

Gin turned back around and started to walk away again.

Hearing no footsteps behind him, he looked over his shoulder with a slightly questioning look.

"Well? Are you coming?"

.

.

.

_Two of the three had made up and were now setting their own course in the world. But the third, oh the third was still connected to them in a ghost of what it used to be, but there is still the chance of reconciliation in the coming future._

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment on your way out. :)


End file.
